Policy applicability determination

Abstract

Provided are, among other things, systems, methods and techniques for determining applicability of a policy defined by reference to a source document. A first sketch that was generated based on content of the source document is obtained, and a matching criterion is defined based on the first sketch. Also obtained is a second sketch that was generated based on content of a potential target document. A determination is made as to whether the policy applies to the potential target document based on whether the second sketch satisfies the matching criterion and, if the policy applies, a notification regarding applicability of the policy automatically is provided and/or an action automatically is blocked so as to prevent a violation of the policy.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of determining policy applicability, comprising:
 designating a document as a source document representative of a policy to which applicability of a potential target document is to be determined; 
 responsive to designating the document as the source document representative of the policy, generating, by a processor, a first sketch based on content of the source document, such that the first sketch is not generated until the document is designated as the source document representative of the policy; 
 defining, by the processor, a matching criterion based on the first sketch; 
 generating, by the processor, a second sketch based on content of the potential target document; 
 determining, by the processor, whether the policy applies to the potential target document based on whether the second sketch satisfies the matching criterion, such that whether the policy applies to the potential target document is determined based on the source document insofar as the matching criterion is determined based on the first sketch and insofar as the first sketch is generated based on the content of the source document; and 
 if the policy applies, at least one of (1) automatically providing a notification regarding applicability of the policy and (2) automatically blocking an action so as to prevent a violation of the policy, by the processor, 
 wherein the first sketch is generated in a first manner that is computationally more expensive than a second manner in which the second sketch is generated, 
 wherein the first manner and the second manner are such that the first sketch generated in the first manner is more accurate of the content of the source document than the second sketch generated in the second manner is of the content of the target document, 
 and wherein the first manner and the second manner are such that the first sketch generated in the first manner contains more information than the second sketch generated in the second manner does. 
 
     
     
       2. A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the second sketch is smaller than the potential target document. 
     
     
       3. A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first sketch comprises a representation of a set of terms included within the source document and the second sketch comprises a representation of a set of terms included within the potential target document. 
     
     
       4. A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first sketch is generated based on a hash of content included within the source document and the second sketch is generated based on a hash of content included within the potential target document. 
     
     
       5. A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the matching criterion specifies a permissible deviation from the first sketch. 
     
     
       6. A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising a step of querying a policy database using a sketch for selected potential target document so as to identify any policy that is applicable to the selected potential target document. 
     
     
       7. A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising a step of automatically modifying the matching criterion based on feedback received regarding policy applicability. 
     
     
       8. A method according to  claim 1 , wherein satisfying the matching criterion indicates a high likelihood that the source document and the potential target document are related to each other by a derivation process. 
     
     
       9. A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the matching criterion identifies target documents that are similar, in a specified respect, to the source document. 
     
     
       10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable process steps for determining policy applicability, said process steps comprising:
 designating a document as a source document representative of a policy to which applicability of a potential target document is to be determined; 
 responsive to designating the document as the source document representative of the policy, generating a first sketch based on content of the source document, such that the first sketch is not generated until the document is designated as the source document representative of the policy; 
 defining a matching criterion based on the first sketch; 
 generating a second sketch based on content of the potential target document; 
 determining whether the policy applies to the potential target document based on whether the second sketch satisfies the matching criterion, such that whether the policy applies to the potential target document is determined based on the source document insofar as the matching criterion is determined based on the first sketch and insofar as the first sketch is generated based on the content of the source document; and 
 if the policy applies, at least one of (1) automatically providing a notification regarding applicability of the policy and (2) automatically blocking an action so as to prevent a violation of the policy, 
 wherein the first sketch is generated in a first manner that is computationally more expensive than a second manner in which the second sketch is generated, 
 wherein the first manner and the second manner are such that the first sketch generated in the first manner is more accurate of the content of the source document than the second sketch generated in the second manner is of the content of the target document, 
 and wherein the first manner and the second manner are such that the first sketch generated in the first manner contains more information than the second sketch generated in the second manner does. 
 
     
     
       11. A computer-readable medium according to  claim 10 , wherein the second sketch is substantially smaller than the potential target document. 
     
     
       12. A computer-readable medium according to  claim 10 , wherein the first sketch comprises a representation of a set of terms included within the source document and the second sketch comprises a representation of a set of terms included within the potential target document.